Single frequency networking technology applied in Digital Audio Broadcasting-Territorial and Digital Video Broadcasting-Territorial systems refers to the adjacent transmitters in the systems synchronically transmitting the same broadcasting code stream with the same frequency. In the Digital Audio Broadcasting-Territorial and Digital Video Broadcasting-Territorial systems applying single frequency networking, the adjacent transmitters do not interference with each other, instead, additive gain can be obtained. One factor resulting in this effect in the single frequency networking is the introduction of a protection interval to OFDM, by which, ISI can be effectively suppressed or avoided.
In the Digital Audio Broadcasting-Territorial and Digital Video Broadcasting-Territorial systems applying single frequency networking (SFN), networking gain can be obtained through the adjacent transmitters synchronically transmitting the same broadcasting code stream at the same frequency. This fact has been validated by field verification. The result of the field verification of the COFDM-based Digital Video Broadcasting-Territorial system (DVB-T) and Digital Audio Broadcasting-Territorial system which apply single frequency networking shows that, in audio and video broadcasting systems applying single frequency networking, when the powers of signals received by the receiver from each of the adjacent transmitters are comparative, the introduction of the signals transmitted by the adjacent transmitters can greatly increase the average power of receiving signal and effectively decrease the variance of signal fading and the bit error rate of the signal. The measurement shows that when the single frequency network consists of three transmitters, the maximal SFN gain (diversity gain) is close to 6 dB. Here, the SFN gain refers to, under the same receiving effect, the ratio between the power of receiving signal required by the receiver when there is a single transmitter and the power of receiving signal required by the receiver when it is a single frequency network.
As a further improvement on the performance of the single frequency network, time-frequency selectivity of the channel can be artificially increased through introducing specific time-varying phase rotation into a transmitting signal at a transmitting antenna, thereby improving the effect of SFN diversity gain. Moreover, the method is compatible with the existing DVB-T and DAB standards. With cyclic delay transmission and double-antenna maximal ratio combining technology, the SFN network gain can be significantly increased, and it is entirely compatible with the existing standards, such as DVB-T.
Space-time coding technique, which has gained more and more attention since its appearance, opens an entirely new field for the development of wireless communication techniques since it can emphasize on improving not only the transmission performance but also the transmission speed. The scheme of orthogonal space-time block coding can be applied to obtain extra coding gain and diversity gain, thereby improving the system performance; meanwhile, the structure of the transceiver is simple and practical. In addition, space-time coding techniques can obtain a better diversity effect than SFN macro-diversity.
At present, the WIMAX system has applied Multi-BS-MBS mode, which requires multiple BSs participating in the same Multi-BS-MBS service to synchronically transmit the same multicast/broadcast data. Due to the synchronous multicast service among multiple BSs, MS can receive multicast/broadcast data from the multiple BSs, thereby improving the receiving reliability and spectrum efficiency. The space-time coding method and the structure of the transceiver using Multi-BS-MBS integrate the ideas of layered space-time code and space-time block code, and enable a receiver with a different number of receiving antennas to have different transmission speed and error performance.
From the network structure's viewpoint, the single frequency network currently used in digital broadcasting applies the general structure as shown in FIG. 1: the signal transmitted by transmitters 101A˜101N covers the areas A˜N, and the broadcasting code stream is distributed to each of the transmitters 101A˜101N through feeding cable (or wireless link). For areas a˜n in remote regions or in special geographical environments in which the transmitters 101A˜101N can not cover well, relays 102a˜102n (or repeaters) are used as complement. In the single frequency network structure shown in FIG. 1, transmitters 101A˜101N and relays 102a˜102n (or repeaters) transmit the same information symbol at the same frequency according to the required synchronization relationship. In this single frequency network structure, only the edges of the covered areas, such as A1, A2 and A3, have relatively high SFN gain as in the orthogonal frequency-diversity multiplexing digital mobile single frequency network.
The present SFN technique only applies single frequency networking among base stations in the same system, and it has a disadvantage in that only some areas at the edge of the cell have SFN gain, while in most areas, there is little or even no SFN gain.
The existing Multi-BS-MBS relates to the joint space-time coding between different channels of a single base station or between the base stations in the same system (or within the single-layer network), but it provides no solution for interlayer cooperative space-time coding in a hierarchical system.